How to find and share great content

Saturday, May 11th, 2013 at
1:13 pm

Whenever I post tips, insights or other links on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or even on my own blog , I hear from followers: “Thanks so much for sharing. This is really helpful!” This feedback is gratifying. After all, the reason I’m spending time finding and sharing this stuff is to cultivate relationships with colleagues, clients and prospects. So how can you find great stuff as part of your content marketing efforts? Even better, how can you become a curator known for generously sharing the best of relevant content? Here are some tips for you. Of course this is not an exhaustive list, but instead shows simple steps you can start today. First, you need to find great content. Subscribe to blogs and newsletters in your field; use Feedly , now that Google Reader is fading away, to keep those subscriptions up to date and in order. Check mainstream news sources daily ( New York Times , Guardian , Mashable, etc.) Read LinkedIn Today for ideas. Sign up for updates from News.me, which gleans what it determines to be top stories from your Facebook and Twitter feeds, and delivers them to you as daily emails. Set up persistent searches in Twitter for keywords you’re interested in (for me, it’s podcasting, storytelling, curation and so on). Follow smart people on Twitter and subscribe to Twitter lists of “thought leaders” in your areas of interest. Get involved in Google+ Communities , where you’ll find plenty of insights and news around the niche topics you care about. Subscribe to “newspapers” on Paper.li ; look for papers that focus on subject matter that’s meaningful to you. Here’s a quick video on Paper.li (slightly out of date but still apropos). Flip through Flipboard on your mobile device to find interesting stuff. You can share items directly to your social media accounts via Flipboard too. Sign up for Scoop.it , a publishing-by-curation platform, designed around your favorite keywords. Next, you have to organize this wonderful content you’ve found. My favorite tool for organizing my content is Delicious , a social bookmarking service. This slightly dated video shows you how it works . Some of my colleagues prefer Diigo or Pearltrees. Whichever social bookmarking tool you choose, be sure it allows you to add as many tags as you want, to make it easier to find content later. Do not rely on your browser bookmarks. Trust me […]